Fast Break
Basketball
Stockton reportedly has the votes
This almost makes it official.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported Friday that it has learned that Spokane’s John Stockton has received the required number of votes to be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
The official announcement of this year’s inductees will come in a press conference Monday in Detroit prior to the NCAA men’s basketball championship game.
A Hall of Fame finalist is required to get at least 18 of 24 votes from the Hall’s Honors Committee in order to be elected. The Tribune reported that Stockton has at least 18 votes.
Stockton, who since his retirement has been considered a sure thing for the Hall, is the NBA career leader in assists and steals. He spent his entire 19-year pro career with the Utah Jazz.
There are 16 finalists for the Hall including three others besides Stockton who are considered a lock for induction: NBA stars Michael Jordan and David Robinson and C. Vivian Stringer, the long-time women’s coach at Rutgers.
The induction ceremony and festivities will be held at the Hall in Springfield, Mass., Sept. 10-12.
Coming Sunday
Lobbestael’s road back
Marshall Lobbestael can remember the play, a go route to Jeshua Anderson. He remembers the pain, somewhere around 8 or 9 on a scale of 10. But the blown MCL and ACL in his left knee is beginning to become a memory as well, pushed into the past by surgery, rehab, new therapies and, at the core, hard work.
The sophomore quarterback is back on Washington State’s football field this spring, preparing with his teammates for the fall season. His knee may still be in a brace, his gait may still have a hitch, his workouts limited to some degree, but the prognosis is bright.
Read about his road back in Sunday’s Spokesman-Review.
NFL
Giants release Burress
The New York Giants released Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress, a little more than four months after the talented but troubled wide receiver accidentally shot himself in the thigh in a New York City nightclub.
Burress’ four-year tenure with the Giants was highlighted by a winning touchdown catch in the Super Bowl against the previously undefeated New England Patriots in February 2008, but it was also dogged by fines and suspensions.
Burress’ status has been uncertain since he shot himself in the thigh on Nov. 29 with an unlicensed gun he’d stuffed into his waistband. He faces a felony weapons charge that could put him in prison for at least 31/2 years if convicted.
Burress’ case was adjourned on Tuesday while his attorneys and prosecutors worked on a possible plea agreement. He is due back in court on June 15.